About us
POGON – Zagreb Center for Independent Culture and Youth is a public non–profit institution for culture, based on a new model of civil–public partnership which was founded by and is managed by the Alliance Operation City and the City of Zagreb.
Mission
To provide a quality and reliable service for production, presentation and affirmation of independent contemporary art and cultural practices, as well as the active participation of youth in cultural and other activities in Zagreb.
Programs
Open platform for programs of culture organizations and youth
The main function of Pogon is to provide its spaces free of charge for programs of culture and youth organizations of the city of Zagreb. Pogon is not defined with aesthetic criteria nor program/curatorial concept but functions as an open platform. Annually, there are over 200 different public events being organized in Pogon from every field of contemporary culture and art (exhibitions, theater and dance performances, new circus performances, concerts, lectures, public forums, and other) and also 150 workshops and seminars. Along with it, Pogon is frequently being used for production, rehearsals, art residencies, meetings, and so on. Numerous acclaimed performers of the Croatian and international scene and many young, yet to be acclaimed artists have had events in Pogon. Pogon hosts programs of various international festivals, such as: New circus festival, contemporary dance festival Platforma.hr, Perforacije – Week of performance arts, or music festivals such as Illectricity festival and Žedno uho organized by Mate Škugor. Anually, 80 different organizations, informal groups, and individual organizers use the spaces of Pogon.
The list of all those who have used Pogon for their events can be found here.
Audience development and community engagement
Pogon is a place of gathering of very different groups of people who come to Pogon either as audience or as participants (20.000 annually). The core audience is the youth population (mainly students and young people in the start of their carrier), but Pogon is also visited by people of all generations, from preschoolers to seniors, depending on the program. Also, Pogon is open to all social groups (including minorities and people with disabilities) and majority of the program held in Pogon is economically available – programs are either free of charge or available through affordable prices. Pogon develops communication with its audience through various ways, and involves the community in its development projects. In collaboration with user organizations it holds activities directed towards audience development such as the program POGONIZACIJA – Social Game-playing in Jedinstvo.
International cultural collaboration
Through its activities on an international, but first of all European scene, Pogon wishes to contribute on connecting Croatian and international artists and facilitating collaborations between them. That is how we have achieved a permanent collaboration with the prestigious German institution Akademie Schloss Solitude through artists-in-residence programme. Along side that, Pogon is one of the initiators of Corners, a project that gathers artists and researchers from regions on the edges of Europe, and provides them the possibility of production of their interdisciplinary art projects. Pogon participates in various international discussions on the role of culture in todays Europe, and is a member of the international organization Culture Action Europe.
Venues
POGON JEDINSTVO
- On the banks of Sava River [Trnjanski nasip bb]
- two halls: Big (450 m2) and Small (80 m2)
- contemporary dance and theater, concerts, parties, public lectures, exhibitions, festivals…
POGON MISLAVOVA
- in Zagreb inner center [Kneza Mislava 11]
- office spaces with a conference room (together 120 m2)
- Pogon head office, temporary office for associations, conference hall for workshops, lectures, film screenings, presentations, panels, meetings …
Photos of the place and more information find here.
Our partners
Besides with its founders, Pogon has numerous collaborations with Croatian and international partners:
Ministry of Culture of Republic of Croatia | EUNIC Croatia – Network of cultural institutes of the EU in Croatia | Museum of Contemporary Art (Zagreb) | Academy of Fine Arts, Department for Animated Film and New Media (Zagreb) | Drugo more (Rijeka) | Akademie Schloss Solitude (Stuttgart, DE) | Arts Council of Northern Ireland (Belfast, UK) | Culture Action Europe – The Political Platform for Arts and Culture (Bruxelles, BE) | IETM – International Network for Contemporary Performing Arts (Bruxelles, BE) | Umea 2014 European Capital of Culture (Umea, SE) | San Sebastian / Donostia 2016 European Capital of Culture (San Sebastian, ES) | Intercult (Stockholm, SE) | Exodos (Ljubljana, SI) | Theatre in The Mill at Bradford University (Bradford, UK) | ISIS Arts (Newcastle, UK) | City Culture Institute (Gdansk, PL)
Support
For Pogon’s core activities and for individual projects and programs, financial support has been provided by:
City of Zagreb – City Office for Education, Culture and Sport
Ministry of Culture of Republic of Croatia
Creative Europe programme of European Union
Goethe-Institut Croatia
Ministry of Social Policy and Youth
Zagreb Tourist Board
The means for program implementation in Pogon Jedinstvo and Pogon Mislavova are provided by host organizations of those programs.
Future
Regional multi-functional center Pogon Jedinstvo
In cooperation with the city of Zagreb as investor and project holder, and with the support of Ministry of Culture, Pogon is preparing a project of reconstruction of the former factory Jedinstvo into a cultural, creative, and social center on Sava River. The reconstruction project will create the most modern infrastructure, a new place of social interaction and new contents which will all contribute to the revitalization of the city neighborhood Trnje, specifically its part near Sava River. Authors of the reconstruction are: Dinko Peračić, dia maa and Miranda Veljačić dia /ARP d.o.o. – firm for designing and consulting civil engineering.
